Nerve Meter; Initial Response

When I first read the Nerve Meter I was very puzzled by the poem’s ambiguity. I found it quite dark and very intense; it had a very raw feeling to it, as if someone was giving us an insight to their internal being. I found that a lot of it was down to personal interpretation, and it isn't a straight forward poem, it has to be analysed and stripped down bit by bit.

Some lines really stood out for me such as 'lost in the shadows of man' and 'sleep came from a shifting belief' I got the idea of a person being trapped in between reality and a dream, but it also made me question reality itself, how do we define reality? I believe the poem has so much potential in terms of using it as stimulus, it definitely links in to the quote 'not to entertain, nor to instruct - to affect' because it's so dark, and it doesn't have a straight forward narrative, it's enveloped in metaphors and some of the lines sub-consciously force you to look within yourself, for example 'I am the witness, I am the only witness of myself' I think this line is so powerful; it put me into deep thought about limitations. I am the only one who can limit me, for I am the only one who really knows who I am, and I think that could have been used for the basis of our performance.

The poem leads to ask many questions which I why I think it would work so well as stimulus, i think the best plays, performances derive from a question, and it's always interesting to see how a question can be interpreted and how it's answered.

The Nerve Meter is definitely a poem that can be misunderstood, it requires you to look beneath the lines, and see it from a different angle. It's definitely based down to interpretation and opinion and what you think, but I think it's the perfect stimulus, because ultimately it will aid us in affecting our audience.